1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to large capacity hard disks, and more particularly, to a fan control method and a fan control system for cooling down hard disks.
2. The Prior Arts
With the development of networks, the server performance of network devices is constantly improved. Accordingly, storage devices for storing data are continuously improved. The storage devices together with servers are used to store network data, such that both of them are installed in a machine. Also, the exterior of the storage devices is similar to that of servers. Both include an enclosure and a front panel on the front of the enclosure. When an enclosure is installed in a machine, the front panel of the enclosure may be operated by users. The storage devices may be hard disks. A capacity of a storage device may have a number of hard disks. Generally, a large capacity hard disk may have strong data access performances.
However, when a storage device has a number of large capacity hard disks, temperatures of the hard disks must be considered. The electronic components of each hard disk may create heat when accessing data. Therefore, a number of large capacity hard disks may create more heat. As such, when a machine includes an array of hard disks, heat dissipation becomes extremely important.
Generally speaking, a large capacity storage system may include 2.5-inch/3.5-inch drives or hard disks, a number of fans, a power supply and a control panel. Nowadays, a number of fans are used to cool down an array of hard disks. Accordingly, power dissipation of a storage device is increased due to a large number of hard disks installed. Cooling fans should provide sufficient amount of wind for the storage device to ensure that the storage device may work properly. Additionally, fan power dissipation is directly proportional to a cube of a fan speed.
In order to increase a large storage capacity and improve the competiveness of products, a large number of hard disks are required to install. Moreover, cooling fans should provide sufficient amount of wind for a storage device to ensure that the storage device may work properly below a reliable operating temperature 50° C. such as 0˜40° C. Common heat management of a storage device is to adjust a fan speed based on ambient temperature so as to ensure that all the hard disks work below a specific temperature. However, the above method does not consider power dissipation of each of hard disks with respect to different types and different operating states of hard disks, thereby enabling the storage device to be overcooled down. Therefore, in order to achieve low power dissipation and low system noise, there is a need for a solution that overcomes the aforementioned prior-art issues.